Collaborative Rejection of Media for Physical Establishments

• US 20070220100A1
• Filed: 05/06/2007
• Published: 09/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Outland Research LLC
• Inventors: Rosenberg, Louis
• Granted Patent: US 8,176,101 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/4387 by the use of playlists
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/61 taking into account QoS or priority requirements

Abstract

A system, computer implemented method, and computer readable storage medium is provided which enables customers of an establishment to collaboratively reject a media file that is currently playing and/or pending to be played within that establishment by entering data into a personal wireless portable computing device on their person, for example a cellular telephone. Upon entering a rejection request, and where necessary an establishment identifier, a message is sent over a wireless link to a media server which performs a series of logical tests to determine if the media file is actually terminated prior to full completion of play. In this way, a plurality of separate customers may use their portable computing devices to collaboratively reject specific musical media file selections that are currently playing or currently pending for play within a particular physical establishment.

Claims

1. A collaborative media selection system for physical establishments comprising:

a media server coupled to a network comprising;

a processor;

a computer readable storage medium operatively coupled to the processor comprising;

a playlist queue comprising an index of retrievable media files pending for play within an establishment, the index including a unique media identifier for each media file pending for play within the establishment;

a plurality of the unique media identifiers each having at least one unique customer identifier of a selecting customer associated therewith; and

,

a set of logical instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to;

receive a plurality of customer generated rejection messages over the network, each of the rejection messages including a unique media identifier of a media file pending for play within the establishment and a unique customer identifier of a rejecting customer;

determine, for each of a plurality of unique media identifiers in the playlist queue, if a threshold number of rejections have been received to reject the media file associated with the media file identifier from the playlist queue;

remove each unique media file identifier from the playlist queue for which at least the threshold number of rejections has been determined to have been received; and

,

defer removal of each unique media file identifier from the playlist queue for which the threshold number of rejections has not been determined to have been received.

2. The system according to claim 1 wherein each of the received customer generated rejection messages is sent from a portable computing device over a wireless network.

3. The system according to claim 1 further comprising a database retrievably stored in the computer readable storage medium, the database comprising a plurality of customer account records, each of the customer account records having a unique customer identifier indexed thereto.

4. The system according to claim 3 further comprising logical instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to charge a rejection fee to the customer account record of each rejecting customer of a removed media file identifier.

5. The system according to claim 3 further comprising logical instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to credit back a selection fee to the customer account record of each selecting customer of a removed media file identifier.

6. The system according to claim 3 wherein each of the customer account records further comprise a plurality of customer status levels, the customer status levels including a premium status and a standard status.

7. The system according to claim 6 wherein a customer having the premium status is afforded superior media file rejection privileges to those of a customer having the standard status.

8. The system according to claim 6 wherein a customer having premium status may reject a media file requested by a customer having standard status but not visa versa.

9. The system according to claim 6 wherein the set of logical instructions further includes instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to ignore a received rejection message if the media file identifier specified by the rejection message was selected by a customer having the premium status.

10. The system according to claim 6 wherein the set of logical instructions further includes instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to ignore a received media file rejection message if the rejection message was sent by a customer having a status level less than a selecting customer.

11. The system according to claim 3 wherein the set of logical instructions further includes instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to charge a selection fee to the customer account record of each selecting customer of a media file which has completed play within the establishment.

12. The system according to claim 1 wherein each of the rejection messages comprise an SMS formatted text message.

13. The system according to claim 5 wherein the charge is conveyed through a reverse billing process that adds a fee to a customer'"'"'s telecommunication bill.

14. The system according to claim 2 wherein the set of logical instructions further includes instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send a termination message to the portable computing device of each selecting customer whose media file selection was removed from the playlist queue;

the termination message including indicia that the customer'"'"'s selection was rejected for play.

15. The system according to claim 14 wherein the termination message further includes indicia of the number of rejections received for the customer'"'"'s selection.

16. The system according to claim 1 wherein the set of logical instructions further includes instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to maintain rejection history statistics for each of a plurality of unique media file identifiers;

the rejection history statistics including at least one of a number, a rate, a frequency, or a percentage of times that the media file associated with the unique media identifier has been removed from a playlist queue prior to its full play within an establishment as a result of received customer generated rejection messages.

17. The system according to claim 1 wherein the set of logical instructions further includes instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to maintain rejection history statistics of each of a plurality of customers, the statistics for each customer including at least one of a number, a rate, a frequency, or a percentage of media file selections made by that customer that did not play to completion within an establishment as a result of received customer generated rejection messages.

18. The system according to claim 1 wherein the computer readable storage medium has retrievably stored therein, at least one unique media playlist queue for each of a plurality of separate physical establishments, each of said media playlist queues being associated with a unique establishment identifier for a physical establishment to which it relates.

19. The system according to claim 18 wherein each customer generated rejection message includes a unique establishment identifier of a particular physical establishment to which the rejection message relates.

20. A computer implemented method for collaborative media selection for physical establishments comprising:

maintaining a playlist queue comprising an index of retrievable media files pending for play within an establishment, the index including a unique media identifier for each media file pending for play within the establishment;

receiving a plurality of customer generated rejection messages over a network, each of the rejection messages including a unique media identifier of a media file pending for play within the establishment and a unique customer identifier of a rejecting customer;

determining, for each of a plurality of unique media identifiers in the playlist queue, if a threshold number of rejections have been received to reject the media file associated with the media file identifier from the playlist queue;

removing each unique media file identifier from the playlist queue for which at least the threshold number of rejections has been determined to have been received; and

,

deferring removal of each unique media file identifier from the playlist queue for which the threshold number of rejections has not been determined to be have been received.

21. The computer implemented method according to claim 20 further comprising providing a database including a plurality of customer account records, each of the customer account records having a unique customer identifier indexed thereto.

22. The computer implemented method according to claim 20 wherein a plurality of the unique media identifiers within the playlist queue each has at least one unique customer identifier of a selecting customer associated therewith.

25. The computer implemented method according to claim 21 further comprising assigning a customer status level to each customer account included in the database, the customer status levels including a premium status and a standard status.

26. The computer implemented method according to claim 25 further comprising granting a customer having the premium status superior media file rejection privileges to those of a customer having the standard status.

27. The computer implemented method according to claim 25 further comprising granting a customer having premium status greater rights the ability to reject a media file requested by a customer having standard status but not visa versa.

28. The computer implemented method according to claim 22 further comprising charging a selection fee to each account record for each selecting customer of a media file which has completed play within the establishment.

29. The computer implemented method according to claim 20 wherein each of the rejection messages comprise an SMS formatted text message.

31. The computer implemented method according to claim 20 further comprising sending a termination message to a portable computing device of each selecting customer whose media file selection was removed from the playlist queue;

the termination message including indicia that the customer'"'"'s selection was rejected for play.

32. The computer implemented method according to claim 31 wherein the termination message further includes indicia of the number of rejections received for the customer'"'"'s selection.

33. The computer implemented method according claim 20 further comprising maintaining rejection history statistics for each of a plurality of unique media file identifiers;

the rejection history statistics including at least one of a number, a rate, a frequency, or percentage of times that the media file associated with the unique media file identifier has been removed from a playlist queue prior to its completed play within the establishment as a result of received customer generated rejection messages.

34. The computer implemented method according to claim 20 further comprising maintaining rejection history statistics of each of a plurality of customers, the statistics for each customer including at least one of a number, a rate, a frequency, or a percentage of media file selections made by each customer that did not play to completion within an establishment as a result of received customer generated rejection messages.

35. The computer implemented method according to claim 20 further comprising maintaining at least one unique media playlist queue for each of a plurality of physical establishments, each of the physical establishments having a unique establishment identifier associated therewith.

36. The computer implemented method according to claim 35 wherein each customer generated rejection message further includes a unique establishment identifier of a physical establishment to which the rejection message relates.

23. The computer implemented method according to 21 further comprising charging a rejection fee to each customer account record of each rejecting customer of associated with the removed media file identifier.

30. The computer implemented method according to claim 23 wherein the rejection fee is charged through a reverse billing process that bills an account associated with a portable computing device from which the rejection message was sent.

24. The computer implemented method according to 22 further comprising crediting back a selection fee to the customer account record of each selecting customer of a removed media file identifier.

37. A computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

maintain a playlist queue comprising an index of retrievable media files pending for play within an establishment, the index including a plurality of unique media identifiers, each associated with a media file pending for play within the establishment;

receive a plurality of customer generated rejection messages over a network, each of the rejection messages including a unique media identifier of a media file pending for play within the establishment and a unique customer identifier of a rejecting customer;

determine, for each of a plurality of unique media identifiers in the playlist queue, if a threshold number of rejections have been received to reject the media file associated with the media file identifier from the playlist queue;

remove at least one media file identifier from the playlist queue for which at least the threshold number of rejections has been received; and

,

defer removal of at least one media file identifier from the playlist queue for which the threshold number of rejections has not been received.

38. A collaborative media selection system for physical establishments comprising:

a plurality of portable computing devices in processing communication with a media server over a network, each of the portable computing devices being configured to exchange messages with the media server;

the media server comprising;

a processor;

a computer readable storage medium operatively coupled to the processor comprising;

a plurality of establishment descriptors, each establishment descriptor having associated therewith, a unique establishment identifier indexed to an physical establishment;

a set of logical instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to;

receive a plurality of media rejection messages over the network, each media rejection message being sent from one of the plurality of portable computing devices and indicative of customer dissatisfaction with a currently playing media file within a physical establishment;

each media rejection message including a unique establishment identifier and a unique customer identifier associated therewith;

determine if a threshold number of media rejection messages have been received associated with a currently playing media file within a particular physical establishment;

cause the currently playing media file within the particular physical establishment to halt play prior to completion based at least in part upon the threshold determination being affirmative.

39. The system of claim 38 wherein the threshold determination is performed separately for each of a plurality of physical establishments.

40. The system of claim 39 wherein a currently playing media file is caused to halt play prior to completion within each of a plurality of physical establishments based at least in part upon a threshold determination for the currently playing media file within that establishment being affirmative.

41. The system according to claim 38 wherein the set of logical instructions further includes instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the play of a unique rejection sound within the particular establishment that is output in approximate time synchronicity with the halting of the currently playing media file.

42. The system according to claim 41 wherein the unique rejection sound includes a gong sound, a toilet flushing sound, and an iconic melody.

43. The system according to claim 38 wherein at least one establishment descriptor includes a unique customer identifier of a customer that selected the currently playing media file within the associated establishment.

44. The system according to claim 38 further comprising a database retrievably stored in the computer readable storage medium, the database comprising a plurality of customer account records, each of the customer account records having a unique customer identifier indexed thereto.

45. The system according to claim 44 further comprising logical instructions which when executed by the processor cause a rejection fee to be charged to each customer account record of each customer that sent a media rejection message for a halted media file.

46. The system according to claim 44 wherein each of the customer account records further comprise a plurality of customer status levels, the customer status levels including a premium status and a standard status.

47. The system according to claim 46 wherein a customer having the premium status is afforded superior media file rejection privileges to those of a customer having the standard status.

48. The system of claim 38 wherein the set of logical instructions are further operative to cause a new media file to play within the particular physical establishment in close time proximity to the halting of play of the currently playing media file.

49. The system according to claim 38 wherein at least one of the media rejection messages comprises an SMS formatted text message.

50. The system according to claim 38 wherein the set of logical instructions further includes instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to send a termination message to the portable computing device of a customer who originally selected the halted media file for play.

51. The system according to claim 50 wherein the termination message further includes indicia of the number of media rejection messages received for the halted media file.

52. The system according to claim 38 wherein the set of logical instructions further includes instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to maintain rejection history statistics for each of a plurality of media files;

the rejection history statistics including at least one of a number, a rate, a frequency, or a percentage of times that the media file has been halted for play prior to completion within an establishment as a result of received media rejection messages.